Dictation machines save in formats built for dictation, not for the web. Export the recording as MP3 or WAV in the software that came with the recorder, upload it here, and get the words back as text or a Word document with every word timed. Files over 500 MB continue on the upload page. A pack from $4 opens the full transcript · packs from $4 for 500 minutes.
How it works
One extra step compared with a phone, and it happens on your desk.
Most dictation machines appear as a drive when you connect them by USB, or dock into the desktop software they shipped with. The recordings sit in a folder on the device.
If your recorder writes DSS, DS2 or WMA, use its own software to export the dictation as MP3 or WAV. That is the reliable route, because the software knows exactly what the recorder wrote.
Drop the exported file into the box above. The transcript comes back timed word by word, and DOCX gives you something to finish in Word.
What dictation machines write
Dictation formats are built for hours of speech in very little space.
Digital Speech Standard and its second version pack hours of mono speech into a few megabytes. Export to MP3 or WAV before uploading — background on DSS and DS2.
Windows Media Audio turns up on older office kit. Export it to MP3 or WAV in the recorder software as well; the WMA page covers the format.
Newer recorders write these directly and they upload with nothing in between. WAV is larger but needs no decision at all.
Dictation is mono and heavily compressed, so a day of it is small. The limits that matter are 10 hours and 5 GB per file, and 500 MB for the box on this page.
Working this way
The recording decides most of the outcome before anything else happens.
A hand's width from your mouth, held still. Rustling and distance cost far more accuracy than speaking quickly.
A separate file for each letter, report or chapter keeps the library tidy and lets you export each one on its own.
Export DOCX and do the formatting, headings and any specialist terms there. The download is a real Word file.
If you use the machine for interviews too, speakers are identified and named in the summary, key quotes and chapters — see research interviews.
Pricing
A pack from $4 opens the full transcript. After that, one-time packs: $8 for 1,000 minutes, $12 for 2,000 minutes and $24 for 5,000 minutes. Credits never expire.
Fifteen minutes of dictation is $0.12 on the $8 pack. Dictate that every working day and a year is roughly 3,900 minutes — about $31 of credit.
FAQ
Export it to MP3 or WAV in the software that came with the recorder first, then upload that. Those dictation formats are best converted at the source, where the recorder software knows exactly what it wrote.
The same route. Export the recording as MP3 or WAV from the desktop software and upload the exported file, which is a format every tool downstream can also read.
Connect it by USB. Most machines mount as a drive with the recordings in a folder, and the makers also ship desktop software that manages the files.
Yes. DOCX is one of the exports and opens in Word, Google Docs or Pages. TXT, MD, SRT, VTT and JSON come from the same job.
Up to 10 hours or 5 GB per file. Dictation formats are small, so length rather than size is the practical limit, and the box on this page takes up to 500 MB.
Signed in, you can edit or delete a line and save it, and the exported DOCX stays fully editable once it is open in Word.
Speakers are identified and named in the summary, key quotes and chapters. TXT, DOCX, SRT and VTT download as the words and their timings.
Instant preview, no signup. A pack from $4 opens the full transcript.
Upload a file or paste a link: see how our transcription services work, audio transcription services and online transcription services.